


Jason’ Empire

by BunnyJase



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: All Caste (DCU), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Gore, Graphic Description, Graphic Violence, Implied use of the pit, Jason died, Jason has a plan, M/M, Ra’s bites the dust, Talia is conflicted, The forever ones are my OC for the celestial entities, Violence, powers, sword fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-23 12:48:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30055704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJase/pseuds/BunnyJase
Summary: Jason has been sent by Ra’s to attempt the All-Caste’s training and has miraculously completed it. Now they await his return, but it may not be as joyous as they expected.
Relationships: Jason Todd/Slade Wilson
Comments: 32
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written by my husband.

Ra’s knew not whether he was impressed or jealous. Soon his most recent student and former protégé of the detective, Jason Todd, would be returning from his training with the All Caste after having become the first human to complete said training. All he knew was that now he would begin the final stages of the young man’s training, supplying him with the final morsels of knowledge he would need to become potentially Ra’s’ most lethal weapon yet.

The doors to his chambers opened and closed silently and the tell-tale smell of his favourite daughter’s perfume found its way to his nostrils. “Talia, you have news for me I assume?” He never once turned to face her, no glorious leader would demean himself by greeting a lesser before they greeted him.

“I bring news from the boarder scouts.” She said as she rounded her father who was stood a few paces back from the edge of the grand balcony, and bowed. “They say Jason is approaching the furthest boarder markers to the north. He should be with us by sunrise.” Talia finished her sentence and stood straight once more.

“Excellent, he is making good progress. Make sure that refreshments are ready for his arrival and his room made up. He will need his rest before we send him off to his next destination.” Ra’s barely moved as he belayed his orders to Talia, he simply stared out across the mountainside lit by the moon’s glow.

“Forgive me father, but I don’t see why we should be sending him out for his training. Why not bring the necessary specialists to us? There will be less chance of him being spotted by other parties.”

Talia may be his favourite daughter, but she still had a lot to learn. “We send him out because it gives him the false sense of independence. If he believes he is in control of his own destiny then he will be more willing to obey the orders of those who gave him his ‘freedom’.”

Talia’s eyes widened with realisation. “Your wisdom is endless father, forgive my foolishness.”

Ra’s lazily waved his hand and dismissed her apology. “That you have learnt from this will be apology enough. Now leave me, I have much to ponder before Jason’s arrival.”

Talia bowed again and hurried back out of her father’s chambers.

Ra’s adjusted his gaze to look in the direction the boarder sentry had reported Jason was returning from and studied the typography. He realised that his sentry had made an error in judgement, a man of Jason’s skill and talent would traverse the slopes much quicker than they had reported and Ra’s estimated that Jason would take no more than two hours to arrive back at Nanda Parbat. Ra’s made a mental note to have the inept sentry redeployed, and moved back into his chambers to prepare.

***

Jason strode confidently towards the grand northern gate into Nanda Parbat, the watch fires burning bright in the early morning darkness

“HALT OR BE FIRED ON!” Cried the gate sentry from his disguised lookout.

Jason ignored his command and instead carried on walking whilst calling out his entry phrase. “New Gotham!”

Nothing happened for a moment, Jason expected that, but as he closed on the gate loud clunking noises could be heard as the mechanism worked to open the doors to allow him into the sacred city. The left door swung slowly inward leaving just enough room for one person to walk through and, without missing a step, Jason carried on at his previous pace and darted through the opening and into the courtyard behind.

It was a false entrance in reality. If any enemy ever breached the gates they would find themselves in a sealed courtyard and being fired upon by sentries hidden away in disguised fortifications. Nothing of the sort happened to him though.

Jason carried on towards the smaller but secretly stronger doors at the back of the courtyard. Now that the gatekeeper could see Jason for himself, he knew that he was safe to allow entrance into the main city and the gates opened wide for Jason just as he reached the halfway point of the courtyard.

The grand doors slammed shut behind him but he paid it no attention as through the doors opening ahead of him, he saw Ra’s and Talia stood waiting for his arrival. Jason could make out a few assassins still making their way into the formation behind Ra’s and Talia, a clear sign that his pace had surprised them, just as Jason had intended. He had purposefully slowed his pace as he approached the first boarder sentry and then sped up once out of their sight and took a route that he knew he could sneak past the other sentries on.

“Young Master Jason, your pace is impressive. I’ve not known anyone to traverse the northern pass that rapidly before.” Ra’s was trying to sound impressed, but all Jason heard was the resentment in his voice.

He had no doubt that Ra’s had previously held the record, that compounded by the fact that Jason had completed the All Caste training where Ra’s had not only cemented the fact in Jason’s mind that Ra’s envied him. And Ra’s Al Ghul did not do envy or jealousy well.

“Yeah I took my time today, didn’t want to wear myself out too much after the exertion of completing the All Caste’s training. I could really do with a drink to be honest.” Jason was still twenty metres away but he reckoned he could see the curl in Ra’s’ lips from the other side of the courtyard.

“Well we wouldn’t want you over-doing yourself. Come, we have laid on refreshments for you in the palace.” As Jason drew level with Ra’s and Talia, they turned and walked either side of him towards the palace. “Tell me, is Ducra still as formidable as she always was?” Ra’s inquired as they walked.

Jason maintained a strong pace to ensure they had to keep up with him. “I dunno, she seemed kinda tense at first but once we understood each other she didn’t seem quite so tough anymore.”

They reached the steps leading into the palace and took them two at a time, the guards rushing to open the doors wide enough for all three of them to enter at the same time.

“Well we’re pleased the training went so well for you, it truly is astonishing that you have been able to complete their training. Something no human has ever succeeded in before.” Talia said as they walked through the grandiose corridor decorated in vibrant greens and golds with various paintings of Ra’s over the centuries adorning the walls.

Before long they entered into one of the larger chambers where a spread of luxurious food and drinks had been laid out for Jason. His eyes bulged and his mouth watered. He had been on a strict, and thoroughly boring, diet whilst with the All Caste as part of their conditioning. It had been very nutritional and Jason was several stone heavier than he had been when he left Nanda Parbat, but as far as taste was concerned the food had been severely lacking.

The food in Nanda Parbat however, had always brought Jason great joy. His love of food and cooking never left wanting in the sovereign city. Jason marched straight over to the table, picking up a pall of water and poured himself out a glass, drinking it eagerly and relishing the revitalising drink.

“Please help yourself to whatever you like, my greatest warrior deserves the best.” Ra’s did not use that term lightly. The fact that he was calling Jason his ‘greatest warrior’ seemed to imply he now rated Jason higher than Lady Shiva, but that was a challenge for another day.

“Whatever I like?” Jason asked, but his tone was mischievous and implied he was after something more than what was on display.

Ra’s looked openly uneasy, not something most people could accomplish. “You desire something we have not provided?” He asked but Jason knew that Ra’s had never really understood him. The old man only saw him as the weapon he thought Jason could be in his war for power.

“Oh no, you’ve provided it, you just didn’t realise you had.”

There was a moment of silence before Ra’s anger boiled to the surface as he realised Jason’s ambitions. “How dare you, boy, after all I have done for you. You wouldn’t be alive if I hadn’t given you the gift of re-life!”

Guards entered the room and took up defensive positions around Ra’s and Talia.

“I never asked to be resurrected, but it wasn’t you who gave me life, just healed my broken physical form.” Jason pointed out as he took a bite of a delicious bread that was local to Nanda Parbat. “You restored me to become your weapon, but newsflash old man, no one owns me.”

Ra’s’ brow was flaring wildly, whereas Talia looked concerned.

“Now though, now I’ve got every tool to rule this place, and it’s all thanks to you!” Jason held his hand out towards the man, giving him a mock bow while never taking his eyes off him. “Do you really think the leader of the greatest assassin clan in the world should be led by someone who couldn’t complete the All Caste’s trials?”

Ra’s’ anger now bubbled over and he drew his sword from deep within his cloak, pulling his cape and shirt off showing his readiness to fight. “YOU INSOLENT CHILD! I WILL GUT YOU WHERE YOU STAND FOR YOUR TREACHERY!”

Jason just laughed, angering Ra’s more. His plan was working perfectly as Ra’s lunged for him, but when Ra’s arrived at where his target had been, Jason was no longer there. “You really think this is going to be easy for you?” Jason quipped as he leant against one of the large pillars running from the ceiling to the floor throughout the chamber.

The rage within Ra’s only grew. Jason knew Ra’s would be trying desperately to control his anger as any competent fighter knew that an angry fighter was a dead fighter. Jason, however, had been studying Ra’s Al Ghul since he was a pre-teen and he knew how to get under the man’s skin.

Ra’s made a more considered approach this time, inching closer rather than rushing in, but this would make no difference to the outcome of the fight.

In fact Jason already knew how the fight was going to go.

The All Caste taught a technique, a form of meditation, wherein the person performing the technique was given a limited ability to see the outcome of their current situation. When perfected, the meditation can be performed in a mere moment, say whilst savouring a refreshing glass of water.

Ra’s swung in a high cut. Jason turned into the attack and slapped the blade away, causing Ra’s to lose balance for a moment. Infuriated by Jason’s ability to dodge and counter his attacks, Ra’s screamed for his guards to charge Jason.

The first guard thrusted at him with his spear, Jason grasped just below the tip and twisted, pulling the spear and the man closer to him. Once the man was within Jason’s grasp, he pushed his head to the right and watched as the next attacker’s sword lodged deep into the skull of his compatriot. He desperately tried to pull the sword away but the metal of the destroyed helmet had trapped the blade and a steady stream of blood poured out of the wound.

Jason lunged at the man, clasping his hand to his sword as Jason relieved him of the small Kris attached to the man’s thigh and drove it into the guard’s neck. His shoulder’s reflexively tensed up, only causing the blade to slice more of his carotid artery open. Jason pulled the blade out of its owner’s neck and flipped it into an underhand grip just in time to defend from the next guard.

He deflected the incoming sword away and then wrapped his free arm over his attacker’s arms, securing them against his own abdomen. He then plunged the Kris into the top of the guard’s helmet, causing their eyes to cross as the rest of their body went limp and spasmed. Jason took a step back and caught the falling sword on the top of his shoe, immediately finding the balancing point. He then flicked it up in the air and kicked out at it, sending the blade hurtling at Ra’s who was now charging back in whilst his guards ‘distracted’ Jason.

Ra’s batted the blade away as Jason connected a lethal roundhouse kick to the next guard’s chin. It snapped their head so violently to the left that it severed their spinal cord. Only three guards remained as well as Ra’s. Talia stood towards the back of the room, simply watching on as this all unfolded before her.

Jason took a step back and took up a defensive stance, knowing his opponents would still rush in to take him down despite the lack of success that their fellows had enjoyed with that approach.

The last guard armed with a spear lunged for Jason. In an attempt to maintain distance from Jason he allowed the grip on his weapon to lessen. Jason took advantage of the opportunity and relinquished the man of his weapon. Jason quickly flicked the weapon round, stowing the Kris in his waistband, and lunging back at the guard as they flailed in an attempt to regain control of their weapon.

The tip of the spear pierced through the purely ceremonial armour they were wearing and appeared out of the man’s back, blood dripping from the point.

The last two guards rushed Jason at once. Both swinging wildly in an attempt to avenge their fallen warriors but their attack was in vein. Jason dropped the spear and drew his Kris again. He dodged under the first blade and stepped forwards into the second attack, he deflected and slashed across the attacker’s neck and severed the blood vessels.

As the first attacker turned to strike again, their face was covered in arterial spray and obscured their vision. Jason swivelled on the spot and lunged at the final guard. He grasped their left wrist and yanked their arm up to the ceiling then plunged the Kris down through their exposed armpit. Jason let go of the man’s arm as he cried in agony, and smacked his hand down on the hilt of the blade, pushing it as far as possible into the man’s chest. He quickly withdrew the blade and took several steps back, making sure Ra’s saw what he had done to his personal guard.

“This is my empire, boy, not achieved simply by a show of force but through centuries of inspiring faith and loyalty in my subjects. They will not simply bow down to you should you be able to best me in combat. They will hunt you down until there is nothing left to hunt!” Ra’s shrieked.

Jason tried to stifle his laughter at the old man’s delusions, but that’s all they were and he wouldn’t be alive to see the truth of the matter. “The future holds many secrets that we claim to know the answers to, you’d be surprised just how few of them are actually correct.”

This time, Jason took the lead and closed in on Ra’s. He knew the change in tactics wouldn’t worry Ra’s as he was a very competent fighter, but the time for waiting had come and gone. Now Jason was going to take what was rightfully his.

It was with a calculated decision that Jason dropped the Kris. It clanged loudly against the hard stone floor as he continued to close in on Ra’s.

“If you think you can defeat me unarmed then you are severely mistaken, I will not allow you such openings as my guard did.” Ra’s was beginning to feel confident again, believing Jason to be too sure of himself.

This time Jason didn’t laugh or smirk. He just kept going. “That’s where you’re mistaken, one final gift from the All Caste.”

Jason stopped three metres from Ra’s, and focused his mind, bringing it into alignment with his soul.

Ra’s and Talia looked on in bewilderment as Jason’s skin began to glow under his clothes. Runic markings appeared at the ends of his wrists and around his neck. He held out his arms and in each hand appeared a shimmering bronze blade as the energy in the room changed dramatically.

“The All Blades are special, they only appear in the presence of pure evil and you, Ra’s, are an evil that needs to be expunged from this world. I’m a storm without a warning, the black clouds that are forming. I’ll turn the rivers red. I. AM. DELIVERANCE!” Jason surged towards Ra’s slashing powerfully at the ancient warrior’s neck and chest.

As expected, Ra’s blocked Jason’s attacks but Jason’s sudden surge had caught him off guard. He back peddled and his heel caught on one of the floor stones. Ra’s tripped and stumbled but began to regain his balance.

That was when he realised that, impossibly, Jason was no longer in front of him.

Jason appeared behind Ra’s and thrust the All Blades through his chest.

Ra’s’ breath caught in his throat. A burning sensation spread across his chest and he found his attempts at breathing resulted in nothing.

Withdrawing the blades from Ra’s, he let the mortally wounded man fall to the floor.

Ra’s looked up at Jason with pure desperation in his eyes. “Very impressive, but you’ve proved your point. Take me to the pit and I promise the league to you.”

Jason laughed and shook his head, Ra’s true colours now on show. “I’m not here to make deals and bargains. I have been blessed with a mission and that mission is to rid the world of scum like you. So no, I won’t be taking you to a pit, and nor will anyone else.” Jason swept his right arm down and across Ra’s’ neck, the blade scraping and gauging the stone floor below as it effortlessly severed the bastards head from its shoulders.

Talia cursed behind him as Jason’s All Blades disappeared.

“Quiet, there is still hope for you so don’t make me regret not killing you now. I am the head of the League, but things are going to change. I have my own mission to uphold so the running of the League will fall to you.” Jason spoke confidently and like a man many years his senior, all Talia could do was listen. She had known Jason was destined for great things, but she hadn’t realised it included this.

“What changes would you have me make?” Talia asked as Jason paced over to one of the torches lining the wall and pulled it from its mount.

“The League will become what it always should’ve been, a force for taking out the worst of humanity and cleansing the pool.” Jason announced as he now strode to the table and collected a chalice of wine. “No longer will they take out those who oppose the will of Ra’s but instead those who would inflict harm on the innocent and the vulnerable.” Jason walked back over to Ra’s lifeless body and poured the wine over it. “The age Ra’s Al Ghul is over.” Jason dropped the torch and the flame spread rapidly over Ra’s and caught on his clothing. “This is my New Empire.”


	2. Loyalties run deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final members of the League return to base while Jason is in the middle of restructuring. Tempers are bound to flair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of this work is written by my husband.

Everywhere Jason looked the reminders of Ra’s and his backwards thinking were being removed, massive banners were torn down and statues of him in his prime were ripped from their mounts. He was honestly surprised by how many had accepted his new rule as he had genuinely expected resistance from most of the League. They had, however, for the most part accepted that if Ra’s was truly meant to lead them forever then no other would’ve been able to best him like Jason had.

That wasn’t to say though that everyone liked the change, they had been used to operating a certain way for decades and it was always hard to shake that kind of indoctrination. Jason never shied away from a challenge though, something that would be tested much sooner than he had expected.

***

The sleek stealth craft that Slade Wilson used for jetting to and from jobs was almost impossible to spot as it soared across the barren desert sky towards the disguised entrance to the hangar of Nanda Parbat. “This is Deathstroke to Nanda Parbat control, requesting permission to land in main hangar. Clearance code, D-S-T-1.”

There was a moment’s pause whilst the operator checked out Slade’s code. “Nanda Parbat control, you have the green light, proceed as expected. Urgent update, Ra’s Al Ghul is dead. Jason Todd now leads the League, Talia Al Ghul will greet you upon your arrival.”

Slade smirked underneath his helmet. He had seen the ex-Robin training after Ra’s had dipped him in the pit and could sense that something was different about him. He just hadn’t quite expected him to take over the League though.

Lady Shiva burst into the cockpit, fire burning deep inside her eyes. “Do my ears betray me, or did I hear that Ra’s is dead? And replaced by that, _brat_ , no less?”

Slade scoffed at the woman’s naivety, if not Jason, someone would’ve eventually dethroned Ra’s. “Calm down, the old man wasn’t exactly taking the League anywhere. Who knows, the kid might even make it a fun place to be again.” Slade wasn’t looking at Shiva, but he could hear the change in her breathing pattern, his words had only served to infuriate her more.

“The League is nothing without Ra’s Al Ghul at its head, no this will not be allowed to stand. I will avenge our glorious leader’s death and ensure his way is followed by all his servants.” With that she left the cockpit as quickly as she had entered it.

Slade simply shook his head at her ignorance and angled the jet in on a landing vector as the glamoured entrance to the hanger was fast approaching.

He was still manoeuvring the jet into position when Shiva started to lower the boarding ramp at the rear of the craft, a small light blinking on in the corner of his eye to tell him so. He finished parking the multi-billion-dollar craft and then hurriedly made his way after Shiva, what was about to come was something he didn’t want to miss.

The mercenary found her arguing loudly with Talia just a few metres away from the jet, something that wasn’t too peculiar as the women had never seen eye-to-eye. “…made a direct challenge to Ra’s as any member is permitted to do within our code!” Talia seemed to be explaining her side of events to Shiva who was only looking more pissed off than she had sounded on the jet.

“Yes, but it is a code we all know should never be acted on, or be allowed to be acted on. Ra’s built this League and it will die with him too as no one else can ever command it as it should be.” Shiva spat back.

Talia dropped her head into her palm after shaking her head. “Shiva you must understand.” She tried reasoning. “Jason has a vision for the League, one that will elevate it into something that my father thought he was making. Other than my father, I’ve never seen someone with such a…”

Shiva waved her hands across Talia’s face, interrupting her mid-sentence. “I will hear no more of this. If it is in our right to challenge the leader of the League for the right to rule, I will challenge this _urchin_ before it is too late. Where is he?”

Talia managed to catch the derisory snort, but Slade still heard it, as she pointed towards the Palace. “He’s there, overseeing the changes to Nanda Parbat.” Slade knew she had thrown that last morsel in just to wind Shiva up more, and he loved her for it, as the League’s most deadly weapon marched off at full tilt towards the palace.

Slade walked over to Talia who immediately turned and started following Shiva. “So Jason completed his training with the All Caste then?” He asked quietly, he was one of very few who knew Jason had been sent to the All Caste and he didn’t want Shiva to hear him as she was not aware.

“He did, with full honours and a bag full of tricks as well. You should’ve seen him Slade, the way he took down my father and his guard, he barely broke a sweat!” Slade was taken aback for a moment, he wasn’t expecting to hear that Ra’s’ guard had fallen as well. They were a select few who received extra training and had never been beaten in combat before.

“He took down the guard? Has he recovered yet?”

Talia looked straight at him, eyes wide with confusion. “Recovered? No Slade you don’t understand! Neither the guard nor my father laid a hand on him. He killed half of them with their own weapons.”

Slade wasn’t surprised very often, yet in the last half an hour it had happened three times. “Well then, we don’t want to miss this fight for the world do we?” Slade picked up his pace slightly and started to close up to the back of Shiva.

If he was honest, he was excited, but not because he was about to see the stuck-up bitch that was Lady Shiva get destroyed. No he was excited about Jason, if there was one thing Slade appreciated it was skill and determination.

It was why he respected the Bat so much. But if Jason had the drive, resolve, and ability to take out the Demon’s Head and his Demon Guard, well, Slade wouldn’t deny he actually felt a little aroused by it all. He shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind, unsure where they were coming from and instead focused on the coming fight.

*** 

Jason stood over a grand map of Nanda Parbat with several cadre leaders, discussing relocation of assets and goods. Now that the grandiose Ra’s was gone, Jason decided that it was time the rest of the sovereign city shared in the wealth it had accumulated rather than one man hoarding it all.

The doors to the room were flung open and all eyes were drawn to the large entranceway. “YOU HEATHEN! What gives you the right to kill our glorious leader? He gave you LIFE, and this is how you repay him?”

If it was possible, Jason imagined a heat shimmer rising around her, as it was he hadn’t even looked up from the map. “Hi Shiva. How was your mission?” Jason chose to ignore her rant and carry on as he had been.

“You will face me or I will slay you where you stand!” Shiva growled.

Still, Jason looked at the map, moving small tokens around. “Yeah, no, I’m a bit busy sorting out the mess Ra’s made of this place. Can we do this next week?”

There was a murmur of quite chuckles from around the room and Jason finally looked up from the map to see Shiva still stood in the doorway, seething at his arrogant responses. They had worked just as he planned them to then.

“Look I get it, change is difficult, but Ra’s was leading the League into ruin and failing to use the incredible skill pool to its full potential. I get that you owe a lot to him, but with me in charge the League will become a force for good, ridding the world of the worst scum that lives on it.” Jason had hoped that his final address would win her round, but it was clear that her loyalty to Ra’s ran deeper than anything he had to say.

“There is no League without Ra’s al Ghul. I will kill you and then return his body to the pit, giving him life again!”

Jason grimaced and feigned bashfulness. “Ah you see, one problem with that plan of yours…I decapitated him and burnt his entire body. There’s nothing left for you to put in the pit.”

That was it now, Jason had sent her past the tipping point and for a moment he thought he saw a tear fall down Lady Shiva’s cheek. “YOU WILL DIE YOU INSOLENT FILTH!” She screamed before charging from the doorway at him.

The guard started to lower their weapons but Jason waved his hand and they relaxed. Before most of the room knew it, Shiva had reached Jason swinging fiercely at him. This was the fight Jason had been waiting for, the only human alive that could present a challenge to his new fighting prowess.

Jason deflected her strikes, again starting on the defensive and biding his time. Shiva aimed a high kick straight at his head, but Jason ducked, grabbing onto her calf and spinning. He released her leg and sent her flying across the room, back towards Slade and Talia.

She gathered herself and stood up, then snapped a kick into the nearest guard’s neck and he fell like a domino to the floor, his neck severed. As he fell Shiva ripped his sword from his hand and adjusted her grip on the weapon.

Chuckling, Jason knew he could look forward and see where this fight was going, but enjoying being in the moment and fighting Shiva on the same playing field was too much fun.

She closed back in on him, blade held in a high guard, and slashed at his torso.

Jason slid left, dodging the blade and palmed it away from him. Shiva in turn used the momentum and spun around, now slicing horizontally at him. Jason dropped, spun and extended his left leg, sweeping Shiva’s legs out from under her and causing her to fall to the floor.

She cursed loudly and then aimed several jabs at Jason’s face, the tip of the blade stopping millimetres from his face as he dodged.

They both rolled back to their feet and Jason drew his Kris in an underhand grip, again in a defensive stance. Shiva launched into another slew of attacks, Jason took a step back as she didn’t let up, desperately trying to break Jason’s guard.

Finally she saw her opening. Jason moved to block the slash he thought was coming but she managed to manipulate her arm so cleverly that it turned into a jab. The burning sensation Jason was so used to by now coursing through his body as the tip of the blade cut into his side, leaving an oozing wound on his abdomen.

Jason backed up, getting some distance on Shiva and allowing him to assess the damage. He would live, but it was going to leave a nasty scar if not treated soon. “Well you aren’t disappointing, I knew this would be one of the best fights of my life and I wasn’t wrong! You’ve come closer than anyone else has since the Joker did all those years ago.”

If she heard what he said, she gave no indication of it, instead just staring at him with pure focus.

“Either way, I’ve allowed you too much time now. I have more important things to get on with.” Jason adopted a more aggressive stance and hunkered down, ready to attack.

“No, you will die, now.” Shiva muttered through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, I will die, one day. We all will, but when I die, Imma die fast, bitch. You though, you’re gunna die slow.”

Jason sheathed his Kris and instead pulled out the large sword from his back. Shiva immediately charged at him but Jason wanted this fight over and done with now, no more of his blood would be shed.

As Shiva rushed in with a horizontal slash at where his neck would’ve been, Jason ducked under the blade and pushed his own through her knee cutting her lower leg clean off. Shiva screamed in agony and anger as she tumbled to the floor, blood pouring from the stump where her leg used to be attached.

“How dare you!” She cried as she clamoured to get back onto her…foot. She charged him again, as fast as she could with only one leg to carry her. With her balance compromised though she made an easy target.

Jason cut up at her, knocking her sword upwards and then slashed back at her raised arm, lopping it off at the shoulder.

Again Shiva fell back landing on the floor. Jason stood over her as she struggled to get up with both limbs on one side of her body missing or cut in half. He pulled out his Kris once more and knelt down next to her, driving it as hard as he could into her abdomen. The blade being longer than her abdomen was deep, he pushed the blade all the way through her and into the stone below, pinning her there.

“You see Shiva, Ra’s only had people killed because they threatened him or his way of life. I kill those who are a stain on humanity, those who would harm the innocent and the defenceless. I know what you did with your daughter, what you allowed her father to do to her in the name of making another weapon. Which means, unfortunately for you, I have no problem removing you from the equation.” His voice was level, a leader worth respecting.

Jason circled round Shiva before suddenly hacking down at her once again, cutting right at the joint to her hip and liberating her left leg from her body.

As the pool of blood she lay in grew bigger and bigger, Jason looked down at her as she forced herself to live on. “Pick her up please.” Jason said as he pulled his Kris out of her stomach.

Two guards ran over and lifted what remained of Lady Shiva off the floor.

She struggled to speak, choking on her own blood as it filled her lungs. “You…will fail. Ra’s…will…return.”

Jason simply smirked at her then gave his guards a nod. They dipped their heads out of harm’s way and Jason mustered all his strength and cut sideways through the middle of her head. At first nothing seemed to have happened, but Jason stepped closed and rested his empty hand’s fingers on her forehead and pushed.

Everything above the middle of her nose slid backwards and landed with a wet thud on the stone cobbling soaked with her blood below. “Well shit, we’re going to have a hell of a time cleaning this up aren’t we?” Jason chuckled as he pulled a cloth from the table and wiped down his weapons.

Talia and Slade now entered the room, walking around the pool of blood and limbs that littered the floor. “Jason are you okay?” Talia asked glancing at the gash in his side.

Jason nodded and took a large swig from the glass of wine at the table.

“Don’t be stupid Jason, let me tidy that up in the infirmary.” Slade said, oddly soft compared to his usual harsh tone.

Jason met the man’s gaze and blushed. “Okay Slade, you can patch me up.” He placed the goblet back on the table and followed Slade out of the grand room.

“You don’t feel the same loyalties to Ra’s that Shiva did then?” Jason asked after three minutes of walking in silence, now sure that Slade would’ve made an attempt to kill him by now if he meant to.

“The only thing between Ra’s and myself was a paycheque. In fact that’s the only ill I harbour towards you, I’m now out of pocket.” Slade jokingly complained.

Jason grinned mischievously at the older mercenary. “Well I’m sure we can see that you are…properly compensated.”

Slade looked sideways at Jason and suddenly felt himself over come with the same lust that filled Jason’s eyes. “I’d be happy to talk over the finer details of my compensation with you, say over dinner?”

Jason’s eyes twinkled as they carried on towards the infirmary. “Sounds like a wonderful idea to me.”She 


	3. New connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time for that dinner with Jason, but when Slade arrives at Ra’s’ old room, he is shocked to see what he finds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little light on the action in this chapter, but based off of all the wonderful comments I’ve been blessed with, I hope this chapter will go down just as well!

Slade arrived at what used to be Ra’s’ chambers and knocked on the grand oak door. A moment passed before a confused looking woman in overalls, covered in dust opened the door and peered through at him.

“Err can I help you?” She asked, knowing who he was but not understanding why he was stood before her in a shirt and trousers, smelling of some expensive and luxurious aftershave.

“I was coming to meet with Jason.” Slade said, sounding equally confused. He peered in through the door and noticed that the room had been stripped of everything and was in the process of being renovated into what looked like several smaller suites.

“These aren’t his quarters, he moved somewhere lower in the palace I think. I’m just here laying out the equipment for tomorrow.” Slade’s brow furrowed as he contemplated whether it was his fault or Jason’s as to why he had gone to the wrong place.

A rather red-faced man sprinted round the corner and his eyes bulged when he saw Slade stood opposite the construction worker. “Mr Wilson!” He cried out. “Mr Wilson, sorry I came to greet you at your room to let you know of Mr Todd’s relocation, but you had already left.”

Slade sighed, now wishing he hadn’t gone into the market to get the bottle of wine clutched softly in his left hand. Even still, given how long it had taken the man to get to Ra’s’ old chambers, he suspected he would’ve been late anyway.

“Just take me to where he is now.” Slade stated with an air of implied hostility.

The man’s eyes dropped out of fear for his life and immediately started off down the corridor. “This way Mr Wilson.” He called back, hoping to avoid further insulting one of the world’s most deadly assassins.

Slade followed at a brisk walk, not wanting to keep Jason waiting.

They soon arrived several floors lower at one of the smaller chambers, in fact Slade suspected it might even be smaller than his. This suspicion was confirmed when Jason opened the door wide to greet Slade, pausing at the sight of his messenger.

“Now I know why you’re late Slade.” Jason chuckled, seemingly soothing the messenger’s fears somewhat with his relaxed attitude.

Slade stepped past the messenger and into Jason’s chambers. It consisted of a dining area connected to a slightly smaller living area, a kitchen that was nearly the size of the two areas combined, and two doors that lead off to what Slade suspected was a ready room and an en suite bedroom.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Jason said as he closed the door behind him and walked back over to the kitchen.

There was a symphony of smells in the air and Slade remembered that Talia had once told him just how talented a cook Jason was. “It’s certainly different to your predecessor’s, but not in a bad way.” He said, trying desperately not to insult Jason.

“Thanks, I think?” Jason said winking at Slade in a way that spiked his heart-rate temporarily.

“Why the move down to the smaller chambers? The League’s leader has always resided atop the palace.” Slade inquired still looking around the chamber at all of Jason’s personal touches.

“Ra’s and I are two very different people Slade. He valued power and devotion, all I want is to protect the innocent and earn the League’s respect.” There was a humbleness to Jason that drew Slade in, all that need for devotion by zealots of the last leader absent.

Slade nodded contently. Jason was certainly no Ra’s. “Though I’m not sure if I’ll ever gain that.” Slade could hear the sadness in Jason’s voice, here was a leader who truly cared about what his followers thought of him, and although this could be considered a weakness for a leader, often it resulted in a stronger unit.

Still Slade had a reputation to uphold. “Who gives a fuck if they hate you, you’re the god that they pray to.” Slade let out a stifled laugh but he could tell Jason wasn’t impressed.

“I don’t want them to see me as some kind of god Slade. I’m human just like they are, and I make mistakes, but they need to know that I’m doing this for the right reason and that their sacrifices will make a difference in the world.” Jason sprinkled a powder into the pan he was tending and swirled it around confidently, the passion he was showing for his new mission reflected in the food he was cooking.

“Well if you go to them with your mission statement with as much passion and confidence as you just did, then you’ll be just fine.” Slade grabbed one of the knives and carefully cut the seal from the bottle of wine he brought with him and then effortlessly pulled the cork from the neck. “I hope you don’t mind, but I bought some refreshment for us both?” Slade poured out two ample glasses of wine, knowing that they both had a similar tolerance for alcohol. Slade’s because of his augmentations and Jason’s because of the Lazarus burning through his veins.

“Not at all, you seem to have good taste so I trust you’ve brought a strong vintage.” Jason said as he started to plate up behind the partition.

Slade took his seat and waited as the lovely scents graced his nostrils. “I must say, I’m dying to taste whatever it is you’ve made for me.” He said before taking a sip of the wine having been swirling it around to glass to speed up the breathing time.

“It’s a local specialty that I learned from one of the town’s people not long after I arrived here.” Jason stated as he strode over with their bowls, placing one before Slade and the other in front of himself as he took to his chair.

Slade raised his glass in toast. “To the new era of the league.” He said smiling into Jason’s vibrant blue/green eyes.

“To second chances.” Jason replied, holding his gaze.

They lowered their glasses, Jason pausing to take in the bouquet before sipping the wine.

“Is it to your liking?” Slade inquired.

Jason nodded in reply. “A lovely selection Slade, it will go very well with our dinner.”

With that they tucked in to the traditional dumpling dish and Jason watched with baited breath as Slade took his first bite. Slade’s eyes bulged as his taste buds begged to get out and dance all over the table. The dumplings were perfect. The meat more tender than he’d ever tasted, and the sauce spicy but not overpowering. “Jason, this is beautiful.”

Jason grinned happily. “Well then it’s perfect for you, as I suspected.”

Slade’s cheeks blushed red, the compliment from Jason warming his soul and melting his heart. Not even Addie had managed that. “Careful Jason, the last person who made me feel like this ended up dead.”

Slade meant it as a warning but Jason scoffed. “Well someone up there doesn’t think I’m done down here so I’ll take my chances on you.” He said with a smirk.

Their small talk continued as they slowly made their way through the meal. Both trying to make it last as long as possible so that they could saver these flavours forever. Eventually though their bowls were empty and Jason stood to take them out to the kitchen.

“I take it that given the lack of a starter, there will be dessert?” Slade inquired, curious about what someone with Jason’s clearly sophisticated tastes would create for their last course.

“You would be correct yet again, however I think a walk around the city would make for an excellent interlude before desert, no?” He called back from the sink.

Slade stood immediately. Nanda Parbat was definitely one of his favourite places to be and he would never turn down an opportunity to walk the streets.

The cool evening breeze hurried down the street they had just turned on to, trying to push them along but there was no rushing Jason and Slade. They were enjoying the company and the city far too much to be rushed anywhere right now.

“So do you think he’ll accept that?” Slade asked as they talked about Jason’s plans going forwards.

“He’ll have no choice, but, I’d still rather ask him you know. Give him the opportunity to take it himself.” Jason shrugged.

Slade nodded, Jason’s plan was solid and he could see no flaw in it, other than that it took Jason away from him. He hated to admit it but the ex-Robin had weaved his way into Slade’s heart. This was something very difficult to achieve, especially when Slade usually went about just splashing and dashing with those he took interest in.

To treat Jason like that though seemed…wrong, almost like a betrayal of the connection they clearly shared. This was confirmed to him though with a gesture from Jason that had a similar effect to getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. As they strolled, Jason took Slade’s hand in his, as if it was something that occurred naturally and often. Yet that was how it felt when Slade got over the initial shock.

He found himself smiling again, but not in laughter, a rare smile of genuine happiness. It almost made Slade sick.

“So I know all this will take me away from here for a while, but, maybe you could come over to the States with me? I’m sure you could find some fun in winding up the Titans for a while?” A hesitation Slade hadn’t seen in Jason since meeting him during this second go round was present in his voice.

Slade considered the proposal. It was definitely attractive and he didn’t want to be apart from Jason for too long, but even Slade needed down time and Ra’s had had him going from kill to kill before Jason ended his reign. “As much fun as that would be, I need some time for myself. Even I can’t be on the go constantly.”

Jason gave his hand a subtle squeeze. “Understandable, I’m sure I can find another use for you!”

They continued down the street for a while before turning to start heading back towards the palace.

“When will you go?” Slade asked, what Jason wanted to accomplish was well within his ability but when going against the Bat, preparation was key.

“Not for at least a few months yet, I need to be present here for stability and it gives me time to plan.” He smiled over at Slade, eyes twinkling with what that would mean.

Before they knew it they were walking up to Jason’s door and stepping once more into Jason’s chambers. “You ready to have your mind blown by my culinary prowess?” Jason called as he skipped round to the kitchen, leaving Slade to close the door behind them.

“I don’t know if I’m ever ready for that.” Slade quipped back, earning him a stern look from out of the corner of Jason’s eye.

A few moments later though, Jason appeared with two bowls of multi-coloured ice cream. “Neapolitan ice cream, my favourite!” Jason proclaimed proudly, Slade took the bowl being offered to him and tucked in to a familiar taste.

The evening was getting older and the night sky getting darker, but Slade sat cuddled into Jason’s side, opposite the glowing flames of the fire pit on Jason’s small balcony. They had been sat in silence for the last half an hour, just enjoying each other’s company, Jason traced small shapes with his finger on Slade’s arm.

“It’s getting late, Jason.” He muttered, not wanting to admit it.

“And?” Was the only reply he got back, he still found it difficult to argue though. “Do you wanna leave?” Jason asked teasingly, Jason knew what he would say. “You can stay, I don’t think I’m ready for tonight to end.”

Slade didn’t bother responding to Jason, instead he nuzzled slightly tighter into his chest and closed his eyes eager to stay in this moment as long as he could.


	4. Home is where the heat is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason’s journey, his mission was always going to bring him here, back to the streets that made him. It’s time for the one showdown he’s not looking forwards to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He peeps, I hope this new chapter finds you well and I hope you’ll all enjoy!
> 
> -Adam

It had been many years since Jason had stepped foot in Gotham, but now as he stood atop one of its many gothic-styled buildings, he could see that absolutely nothing had changed. Which was why he was here. He took one last deep breath of the stale Gotham air and replaced his helmet, hearing it hiss softly as the pressure seals took hold.

Now the old air of Gotham was replaced mostly by fresh, somewhat metallic air as his helmet’s filters did their magic. They could filter out any known toxin, virus or poison, yet they couldn’t get rid of all of Gotham’s taste. The sun dipped below the horizon and a blanket of darkness swept over most of Gotham, the low cloud that seemed to perpetually hover over the old city absorbing most of the remaining light.

Jason located his next landing point and jumped off the ledge he was perched on. It would be easier to just turn into the ball of smoke and fly across the city, but Jason didn’t need to be giving anything away just yet, besides it almost felt like a crime not to traverse the city-scape via grapnel lines. The technique returned to him a lot faster than he thought it would and soon he was racing across the city, buildings going by in the blink of any eye, jumping from rooftop-to-rooftop. Jason was unashamed to admit he missed this, that this was some of the best fun he’d had since his rebirth.

He needed to focus though. He couldn’t afford to enjoy himself too much. No, tonight demanded more respect and attention than that.

Jason landed deftly on a building overlooked by several other taller buildings. He knew it well as it was situated well within the Narrows and had spent many a night here trying to earn a buck, and then trying to clean it up after donning the red, green and yellow. This was the perfect place to make his return to the Gotham nightlife. Jason accessed his com suite and tuned his frequency to the old one he used as Robin. Jason knew the batcomputer monitored all their old frequencies, looking for any activity, so he knew his message would be heard.

He opened the channel and spoke one word, a name. “Bruuuuuuuuce.” His tone was mocking and playful, meant to draw in their attention.

Then he picked an adjacent rooftop and disappeared into a reliable hiding spot.

Jason glanced down at his watch, twenty minutes had passed since he sent the message. He was a little disappointed, he thought they would’ve made it here by now. He would wait patiently however, as long as it took because this needed to be done.

Events were already ticking into place and time was now running out.

Certain tasks needed to be accomplished before the coming storm arrived. Just then he heard it, the gentle thrum of the jet’s engines in stealth mode and the tell-tale glow just above the cloud line. Moments later Bruce dropped through the clouds and soared towards the rooftop, cape flurrying as he landed with all the style and drama he always had.

The detective rose back up and surveyed the rooftop, looking for any signs of who could’ve made the mysterious transmission. Then he noticed it, the item Jason had left on the roof. A small metal rod, curved at one end and bent at an angle on the other.

The crowbar was old, fire-damaged, and coated in memories of a brutal murder. Jason had located his attacker’s weapon six months after taking the league and sent some of his soldiers to collect the weapon from the local evidence lock-up. He hadn’t wanted to touch it when it was brought back to Nanda Parbat, but he knew he had to. The moment he did, all the gaps in his memory filled, the magic within him reacting with the trace elements of his own DNA on the crowbar.

This process had completed his rebirth, uniting his old self, his new self and fusing them so that he could become his future self when the time came.

For now though, Jason watched as Bruce stood perplexed as to why someone would leave an old, clearly out-of-place, crowbar here after making such a transmission.

“I don’t have time for games.” Growled the Bat. The presence of his voice caused more than a few lights to turn out in the adjacent buildings and a collection of windows to slowly close. “Show yourself and I’ll make this easy for you. If I have to come looking for you, you won’t enjoy it.”

Jason stepped out of the darkness and into the quickly growing light from the streets. He knew Bruce wouldn’t know who he was straight away, he looked nothing like his former self and Bruce had every reason to suspect that he was still six feet deep. “No one’s hiding old man, just watching for nostalgia’s sake.”

Bruce span on the spot to face him. The striking red helmet, the slightly worn brown leather jacket, Jason’s grey body armour that sported his own take on the bat-symbol, his heavy-looking combat trousers and the sturdy boots were all alien to Bruce. Jason could see his cogs turning as he tried to assemble the pieces to this puzzle.

“I’ll save you the headache B.” Jason said before removing his helmet.

Jason looked older, was older, than the Jason Bruce knew, but they were still the same person and all the colour drained from the observable skin on Bruce’s face when he saw what was under Jason’s helmet. “How…t…this isn’t…You can’t be!” He stuttered, tripping over his own words. “Jason?”

Dear gods, was Bruce showing some form of emotion in the cowl? By all reports that had long since stopped happening. Not since Jason’s death for that matter. “In the flesh!” He called out, before jumping down to the rooftop Bruce was stood on.

“No, it’s impossible. There must be another explanation!” Bruce said, taking an uneasy step back.

“I’m a fucking dead man walking. I know it’s hard to take in but, trust me B, I’m one hundred per cent Jason.” No mocking, no smugness, nothing but raw, honest truth.

Bruce shook his head, his left leg moving back subtly into a basic fighting stance.

The ex-Robin immediately recognised it but didn’t react. Instead he pulled out a tiny blade, and made a minute incision on his neck. It was just enough to draw blood and get the sample he needed for Bruce’s gauntlet computer to confirm Jason’s story. He handed the blade hilt first to Bruce who took it and then shook a drop of blood onto the scanner.

Bruce tapped a few controls and then looked back up at Jason as the computer compared old files with the new sample. Jason could see that Bruce’s first check was against the known makeup of Clayface’s clay, a sound move but also an unnecessary one.

His once father glanced back down at his forearm as it chimed to tell him it had finished its search. Sure enough it read a match to Jason’s file DNA. Bruce shook his head vigorously from side-to-side.

“It can’t be you, how can it be you?” He asked, confusion sinking over him.

“To be honest I don’t know, just woke up in a box one day, hurting like hell, but knew I had to get out and find a way to get help. Ended up being collected by Ra’s’ soldiers and taken back to their base. After a while they dumped me in the pit, seeing what potential I had if they simply restored me.” Jason sat down on an air-conditioning fan as Bruce stood there with rapt attention.

“After that I started training with the best of the best and learning, like you did, all over the world. Soon Ra’s saw just how proficient I was becoming and decided he would do something he hadn’t tried in decades. I was sent to train with a group called the All-Caste. A warrior-assassin race that have existed for millennia. There I trained, learnt just what potential is tapped within the human body and what it can do with the right training and practise. I became the first human to ever complete the training and returned to the League to carry out my mission.” Something finally clicked inside Bruce’s head as he started to put together all the pieces Jason had provided along with everything he’d heard about the league over the last year and a bit.

“You killed Ra’s? Took over the league and gave them a new mandate?” Bruce asked it like a question, but Jason could tell he already knew the answer.

“Correct Bruce, well done I’m glad you’ve caught up.” Now the mocking tone was there.

Horror and sadness now spread over Bruce’s visible features. “But why Jason? Why kill him?”

Jason knew this was coming, and soon he would have to take action against his adoptive father that would change the fate of the world forever. “It’s hardly like he was alive anyway B, besides, don’t you think he’s done enough evil in this world to warrant it? The many innocent women and children he had killed just because their father or husband slighted him in some way?” Jason shook his head. “No Ra’s deserved the end I gave him, as do certain clowns that I hear are still ruling the roost.”

Anger now dominated Bruce’s face. “No Jason, we do not kill!”

Jason couldn’t help but laugh. “No Bruce, _YOU_ , do not kill. I know now that there is some evil in this world that no longer deserves a light, that their fire needs to be extinguished. I am here to become Gotham’s true protector, and remove you from your self-imposed throne. You can either step-down willingly, or I’ll give you no option but to retire.” Jason pulled the helmet once more over his head, a little quicker this time.

“I don’t care how much training you’ve had Jason, this isn’t a fight you’re going to win.” The Bat back in place, grieving father locked up once again.

Jason smirked inside his helmet. Bruce had no idea what he was getting in for as Jason had already seen every stage of the fight. He winced slightly as he remembered how it was destined to end, but knew that some sacrifices were necessary for him to complete his mission. “This fight has only one outcome Bruce, so I will give you one last chance to step down peacefully and allow me to do what needs to be done.”

Bruce growled again and stepped to Jason. He swung his heavy fist for Jason’s ribcage, clever not to go for the helmet straight away. He would need to break that with something else but he could damage soft tissue all night long. Jason side-stepped and grabbed Bruce’s wrist and elbow. Jason spun wickedly fast and hurled Bruce’s weight across the roof and into the rooftop access.

The wall cracked and Bruce landed in a heap, but he was quickly back to his feet again and shaking himself off. “Just because you’re faster and stronger doesn’t mean you’re better.”

For most people, this would be true, but Jason _was_ better, in every way.

“No? I thought besting Shiva one-on-one did make me better?” Bruce tensed, only those who knew him well would’ve seen it, and Jason knew how highly Bruce rated Shiva as a fighter. She was one of the few people who he couldn’t beat in hand-to-hand combat.

“If you’d beaten her, you’d of…dammit Jason!” Bruce screamed as he realised how he’d had zero reports of movement from Shiva for a long time now. “If you think that that scares me, you’re sorely mistaken.” Bruce shouted, trying to get back his dominating tone.

“B I know you. Everything scares you. That’s why you do what you do. I’m here to tell you that you won’t ever fix Gotham, that I am Gotham’s solution, her salvation. Just move aside and let me do it.”

Bruce shook his head fervently. “Gotham is _MINE_.” He said and launched himself at Jason again, this time with a flurry of strikes intended to disorient him.

Jason batted each strike away before stepping back to avoid Bruce’s flying knee.

The caped crusader flew past him knee first, cursing as not one of his blows landed. “You say you’re here to rid me of my mission. To do what must be done, yet you won’t even attack me.” Bruce was trying to goad him into making a mistake, giving him an opening, but that was never going to happen. Bruce swung round, his leg rapidly closing for a crushing head-kick.

Jason once again grabbed the incoming attack, taking Bruce’s ankle in his hand and then with a swift powerful strike, punched almost straight through Bruce’s knee. The joint was almost instantly destroyed, the rest of the damage being done when he landed back on it.

Bruce yelled out in agony as tendons tore and ligaments snapped, his patella protruding from his trousers.

“Bruce I don’t want to fight you, please just let me do this. We don’t have to take this any further.” He was a big enough man to admit he was begging.

Bruce struggled to stand on his one remaining functional leg. “If you think I’ll let you take my city so easily then you are gravely mistaken.” Bruce spoke through gritted teeth, and pulled out a syringe from his pouch, injecting the local anaesthetic into his lower thigh.

Jason dropped his head. He knew it was going to go this way, but he still had to give Bruce the chance in case of the off chance he accepted. “Fine, but that was your last chance.”

This time Jason came at Bruce, he raised his fist to strike his former mentor but then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

A moment later his fist collided with the back of Bruce’s cowl, knocking the man to the floor. He rolled, trying to shake off the heavy clouds settling in his mind from Jason’s attack but there was no point. Jason launched into him with a series of devastating face and body shots, quicker than any non-meta human could manage. Bruce was now teetering on the edge of consciousness, and Jason knew what he had to do.

If he didn’t do this Bruce would continue to be a pain, constantly rising against him and he’d have to keep beating Bruce down. That was worse than the alternative, for everyone.

Jason grabbed Bruce’s shoulder and rolled him over, the once proud Bat lying face down on the asphalt roof. “I’m sorry B, but this is for the best, I promise.” Jason drew a short but razor sharp blade from his belt, and drove it in between Bruce’s L2 and L3 discs severing the spinal column there and rendering Bruce immobile from the waist down.

Bruce screamed in agony across the rooftops, but not because of the physical pain of being stabbed, but because he knew what had just happened.

“I’m sorry Bruce, but this is the only way to stop you and send a message to the rest of them. I have to do this, and I have to do it alone. Tell them all to stay out of my way and they will escape the same fate.” Jason stood and hacked into the Bat’s current com frequency. “Red Hood to all call signs, the Bat is down at the pinged location. Collect him and then retreat to the cave, he’ll tell you what to do.”


	5. With love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason’s return to Gotham was fast and brutal, thus so shall be his cleansing. Time is running out, but will the ‘family’ play ball or get in the way?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s a long one, I hope I’ve managed to convey the tones I wanted to!
> 
> -Adam

** Current day… **

For the first time in well over two centuries, a relative peace was seen in all of Gotham. The last two years had been one radical change after another. They had all lead to where the city was today.

Was there still crime?

Of course there was. No city is immune from crime but, it was no longer head and shoulders above every other city in America. Instead it now sat at the very lower end of the scale as those in the city knew now what had been sacrificed, what the city’s prosperity meant to their saviour, the saviour of most of the known universe.

When Red Hood had taken over the protection of Gotham, no one had known just how quickly things would change. Now though they knew of the sacrifices made by their heroes, and on this day, Heroes Day, they would celebrate the greatest hero of them all.

***

** Two years ago… **

Jason stood in a thick, viscous pool of blood. Obviously not his own, but the two men who had dared step to him after his warnings to stop dealing to kids had now paid the price he laid out. They hadn’t seen him move, but he and his dagger had nearly always worked faster than the human eye.

Every major blood vessel in their bodies had been slashed wide open, leaving them to a long and painful death. More than recompense for the pain and suffering they had caused to those so young and innocent.

“You think I’m joking now?” Jason said, waving his dagger menacingly at the six remaining drug lords. Not caring that all of them, and their bodyguards, had drawn their weapons.

“You think bleedin’ two fools is gunna scare me into losin’ money. You got more balls than…” one drug lord stopped in mid-sentence, now unable to speak.

Jason had disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and then, almost severed the filth’s head from his shoulders leaving just enough life in him to hear Jason’s words. “There’s not a damn thing any of you can do to hurt me. I am Gotham now, there’s no Bat to just come along, punch you a couple of times, and tell you to stop, just so you can get back out on the street and start again.”

He pushed the man’s head just hard enough to make it fall back, a mockery of what he’d done to Shiva, and flap around on the remaining layer of tissue. “If you all don’t start cleaning up the way you do business, I’ll find a way to make these three idiots look like the easy way out. I’m not here to enforce the status quo. I’m here to set Gotham on the path to redemption and currently you all stand in my way. Think about your life choices.”

With that Jason vanished again, leaving the scum of Gotham to contemplate just what they had witnessed.

He reanimated on the roof of the warehouse he had lured them all to and listened as they flapped and panicked down below. He let out a small chuckle and sat down on the slanted corrugated metal panel, pulled off his helmet and sparked up his cigarette. He knew such things were bad for him, but he knew his own destiny and he knew what trials he faced in the coming years, so he was going to enjoy the things he loved whilst he still could.

It was why, after he told Slade about what he knew was to come, they had decided to wed. Jason took off his glove and spun the simple palladium band around his ring finger. It wasn’t flashy or overstated, but neither was Jason. The ring symbolised his love with Slade; simple, pure, yet still beautiful. He smiled to himself before remembering where he was and jumping back into the real world.

The interior of Jason’s helmet lit up, a sign when he wasn’t wearing it that someone was trying to contact him. He took one long drag on his cigarette then flicked it perfectly into the pool of gasoline down on the floor that encircled the warehouse. It bounced once and sent the entire ring up in furious flames. The inhabitants wouldn’t notice until it was too late, and the crates inside the warehouse were filled with flammable objects. They would not survive the blaze.

Jason pulled his helmet back on and answered the call. “Red Hood’s phone, how can I help.”

He heard the long suffering sigh of Barbara Gordon, one of his oldest friends and personal inspirations. “You told me to alert you if Arkham ever needed help, well it looks like Waller has sent in her suicide squad to free some of the more high risk patients, the ones she likes to recruit.” Jason grunted, one day he would have to pay Waller a visit.

Not enough time had passed between Bruce being retired and Jason taking over for anyone not directly affected to know anything had changed. Waller might’ve picked up on a lack of Bat sightings and figured he was away, choosing then to strike and retrieve her squad from Arkham’s beefed up security.

“Thanks Oracle, I’ll make my way there now.” The line cut off as soon as Jason had finished his sentence, and he didn’t blame her.

No one in the family was on his side, they all hated him and he understood why. Not only had he retired Bruce, but he had been forced to fight Dick too. His former older brother seething that Jason had returned only to ruin their father and ban them all from continuing their work.

Dick had just left the hospital after Jason had been forced to break several of his bones to get the message through to him. After that they all finally listened, but that didn’t mean they were happy about it.

Materialising inside Arkham’s walls, Jason heard the distinct repeating of Deadshot’s arm-mounted guns. “For fuck’s sake, don’t make me do this Floyd.” He cursed to himself.

Floyd Lawton was one of the few ‘bad guys’ that Jason didn’t mind. He’d whack anyone for enough money, but he seemed to have a distinct moral code and visibly stood up to Waller whenever he could. Jason doused the area the suicide squad was in with his thick impenetrable smoke.

“The fuck is this?” Digger cried out.

“How the fuck would I know?” Replied Floyd, as he cycled through the imaging modes on his mask’s eyepiece.

“Return those you came for to their cells and most of you will leave with your lives.” Jason sat on a crossbeam above them, only a matter of inches away from Croc but none of them were any the wiser. Jason had dropped a wireless speaker into their midst and was talking through that.

“Like Waller will let any of us live if we walk out of here empty handed?” Digger shouted, he never was the sharpest tool in the box.

“If you think Waller is going to just throw away some of her most prized assets you really don’t know her at all.” Jason had spent time researching the squad and their commander. Waller wasn’t as hard a bitch as she tried to portray. She had her favourites and they were allowed to fail.

“The smoke’s gotta point!” Jason feared they’d let Quinn out. After the Joker’s death she had become even more zealous in carrying out his mission and had almost completely taken over committing horrendous crimes as he had been.

“Get back in your cell Harley, you’re lucky I don’t gut you where you stand for what you did to me.” Jason growled.

Harley had played a major part in Jason’s murder, disguising herself as his birth mother and studying her so closely that Jason’s inspection of her appearance and previous behaviours had shown no difference. So when she’d revealed herself in that warehouse and started laying out the initial beating on Jason, a fire had lit itself in his soul for her. He had a plan for her death, but it wasn’t yet.

Didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill her if the situation didn’t call for it though.

“Pfft, ain’t no one tell me what to do ‘cept mista J, an’ he only speaks to _me_ now.” She swung her mallet blindly through the smoke, near where Jason’s voice was coming from.

He’d had enough of her now. She wasn’t going to listen and he didn’t have time to deal with the rest of them. “I suggest you all go back to where you came from, or this will be the last few moments of your lives.” Jason announced.

“Like you can kill us! The Bat’ll lock you up in here with the rest of us!” Digger laughed hysterically, clearly seeing something funny in all this.

“Batman is no longer the protector of Gotham. I rid him of that responsibility.” Jason retracted the smoke back into himself. “I rule Gotham now, and I will return her to what she once was.”

Jason dropped down from the beam, slicing vertically through Croc as he fell. The next target was Floyd, he would cause Jason a level of annoyance he couldn’t be arsed to tolerate.

He appeared behind him and jammed his pistols up into Floyd’s armpits, his suit’s weak spot, and fired a few rounds each.

Then the wildcard that was Harley Quinn came into play. She swung her mallet, not caring where it struck as long as it hit her enemy in some way. Jason vanished and instead Harley’s mallet smacked Floyd straight in the head, hard enough to sever his spinal cord and kill the man.

Jason cursed, caught digger’s boomerang and chucked it straight back into the Aussie’s temple.

One bullet in the back of the Riddler’s head was all it took to silence the coward as he ran for the nearest door.

Just Harley and Frost remained. He disappeared into another room, swapped out his magazine for incendiary rounds and then re-entered the fray.

He peppered Killer Frost’s body with burning rounds and watched as she squirmed and squealed in pain. She wouldn’t die, but Harley needed to. Jason pulled off his helmet, revealing his identity to Harley,

She instantly knew just how fucked she was. “How tha’ fuck are you alive lil’ birdy!”

Jason smirked. he was going to enjoy this. “Cuz you and the Joker messed with the plan, fucked with destiny, an’ now I’m back to set things on the path they always should’ve been. Just got to scrub the shit from the floors before the party starts.” Jason fired his pistol from his hip and caught Harley in her abdomen, rupturing her spleen, then threw his weapons aside.

Harley staggered, trying to regain her strength to fight Jason off, but this was something she was never going to achieve no matter how proficient she was hand-to-hand. She swung her mallet one-handed at Jason, he caught the lazy strike and used her momentum to swing the mighty weapon against her. Harley would never let go of her precious mallet whilst still conscious, so Jason swung the mallet behind him, pulling Harley with it and into the wall.

Tiles crashed down on her head and shoulders before Jason started pummelling her torso with brutal body punches. At first he focused on the entry point of his bullet and watched as the blood poured quicker and quicker, then he broadened his attack pattern. Soon he felt ribs cracking under his blows, every now and again he would land one on her chin to keep Harley dazed and unable to defend herself.

Confident he had done sufficient damage he took a step back and let Harley fall to the floor. Through ragged wheezes Harley spoke, a mere shadow of her normal pitch and tone. “Jeez lil’ birdy, you got tough.” Jason had clearly punctured one of her lungs with a broken rib.

Good, now she knew what that felt like.

He grabbed her by her top’s barely-there strap and hauled her back onto her feet. She teetered from side-to-side, barely able to keep balance. Jason pulled his Kris from its sheath and slammed it into Harley’s shoulder. She wailed as much as was possible for her as the pain shot across her shoulder. Jason had deliberately made a sloppy blow, the blade bouncing off bones and wiggling around as it sunk through to the wall.

“When this is all done, when my mission is finished, the likes of you will never be remembered. Your time ruining lives will be a thing of the past as this city becomes what it has the potential to be. I hope you’re at peace with what you’ve done, because you’re judgement is nigh.” Jason pulled the blade out and thrust it into Harley’s forehead. Her eye’s faltered and then rolled in their sockets.

The bitch was finally dead.

As Jason materialised back in his hideout, Barbara came back over the com channel. Jason flicked a switch and she played through the speakers on his computer rather than his helmet speakers. “I watched all of that you know.”

Jason was confused, did she think he didn’t know that?

“Was what you said true? Were you sent back for a reason?”

Jason paused for a moment. He had not wanted to have this discussion with the ‘family’ yet, but nor did he want to ignore Babs, she deserved more than that. “Yes, I was. There are things coming that I am supposed to stop, no one else. The Joker and Harley have always been unknowable quantities so the forces that be couldn’t know they were going to kill me. They brought me back to become the person I need to be to stop what is coming. I can’t do that though until Gotham is cleaned, and I mean truly cleaned Babs.”

For a moment there was silence, neither of them saying a word. Then Jason coughed and heard himself echo. Jason knew the echo, he’d played with it as a teenager between training sessions. Bruce had always told him to stop but he saw the smile on the corner of the man’s face so never listened. “Babs, you could at least do me the decency of telling me when I’m on speaker to the entire family.”

There was a bustling and Barbara suddenly sounded much closer. “You’re not on…”

Jason cut her off. “Don’t lie to me Babs. I could easily appear there in a few seconds and prove you wrong.”

“I’m sorry Jason. I just couldn’t not, not after what you said! We deserve to know!” Her voice desperate.

Jason’s curled his fists into balls on the counter. “And you would’ve done, when the time was right. Why do none of you trust me to do what is right? Why do none of you believe that I do this all for a reason.”

Suddenly a voice he wasn’t expecting to hear for a long time spoke. “Because you never give us the whole picture, master Jason.”

He hadn’t spoken to Alfred since the night he left the cave all those years ago and couldn’t bring himself to go back after his return due to the way in which he returned.

“You never gave us the chance to believe you, so how could we trust in this plan of yours?”

Jason cursed himself, of course Alfred would make the stupidly accurate statement that made him feel bad about the way he handled himself. “Look I’m sorry I never gave you guys the full scoop, but I’m on a deadline and I was just too focused on that to think about the minutia.”

Babs sent through a video request. Jason hovered over the accept button, not sure if he was ready to face them all. No if he didn’t have the courage to do this then he would never be able to complete his mission.

He accepted the request and the cave sprung into life. Before him on the large screen sat Babs, Alfred, Dick, Bruce, Tim and Kate. To his surprise, they all seemed relatively happy to see him.

Perhaps hearing that he was brought back for a reason, that he was destined for greater things soothed them. Or maybe they were just glad to hear the whole truth. Whatever their reason, he was glad to see them too.

Then Tim saw the one detail he hadn’t yet told them all. “Jason is that a wedding ring?”

Jason’s head drooped and he sighed. “Well at least the replacement is observant!” He remarked, getting a slight chuckle out of the group. “Yes, Slade Wilson and I were wed a little while back after I laid out the entirety of what is to come, and my part in it all.”

There were looks of confusion and bewilderment throughout the group. “Well let me be the first to congratulate you sir.”

Jason blushed at Alfred’s acceptance. He knew such a thing might not be possible from the others given the damage Slade had caused the group over the years. “As long as you’re happy Little Wing, we’re all happy.”

They all nodded and smiled back at him.

He wasn’t sure if it was genuine, but he’d take it any day.

Then something else unexpected happened. Bruce rose, slowly and awkwardly, from his chair. Tim immediately rushed to help him stand, being able to afford the best physios was clearly paying off. “So Jason, will you please tell us exactly why you’re back here and what it is that has you so hyper focused. If we can help, we will. I can’t promise we’ll kill for you, just because, but if we can ease your burden, please let us help.”

Jason looked dead into the eyes of his father. He could see the truth in the eyes he’d once looked to find a father’s love in. He knew Bruce was genuinely begging him to let them help. “Okay, but you better sit back down because this is going to take a while.”

***

Gotham was enjoying a new-found peace and quiet.

Obviously there was still the normal hubbub of metropolitan life. However, the sound of gunfire and explosions, gas attacks and riddles was no longer heard every few days. Announcements of breakouts and imminent danger no longer sounded from the city’s jumbo screens.

Instead the city prepared for its newest public holiday, Hero day. On this day Gotham would celebrate its masked heroes for finally ridding the city of villains, mob bosses, corrupt politicians and mass drug trade.

Jason woke that morning to a phone call from Slade. He swiped across and soon his love’s face appeared on the screen.

“Morning handsome.” Jason said, his words slurring as he slowly woke.

“And good afternoon to you too.” Slade chuckled.

Jason glanced at the two clocks on his wall and saw that the time in Nanda Parbat was now well into the afternoon.

“I just wanted to call ahead of the big day tomorrow.” Jason sat up and leant back on the headboard.

“Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m sorry this is the way it has to be.” Jason rubbed his temples, avoiding making eye contact with Slade.

“Hey, we’ve both known this day was coming for a long time, we can’t start worrying about things that cannot be, just be glad for what we had. What we’ve shared, the love we’ve shared.” Since they’d started seeing each other, Slade had gone from a stoic wall to a hallmark card, spouting his love for Jason at every available opportunity.

“I know, it’s just odd knowing what’s to come now that it’s so close. What if I mess it up?” A vulnerability Jason rarely showed shone brightly in the privacy of his own home, his husband the only one to see him.

Slade laughed softly. “Jason Peter Todd, I have never known you to mess anything up. I don’t think you’re about to start now.”

Jason felt a warm glow rush through him. “You always know just what to say don’t you.”

Slade grinned back at him. “It’s why you married me.”

Jason smiled deeply at his love, wondering just how he became so lucky as to have Slade in his life. “Well that and your ability in the sack.”

They both laughed as Jason rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I love you Slade, I probably won’t get a chance to call you again after all this. We’re going to be busy with preparations.”

Slade nodded, and very obviously fought to hold back tears. “I love you too Jason, go make me proud.” His voice wobbled and they both pressed a kiss to the camera before shutting off the call. Jason let the tears roll down his cheeks like raindrops on a car window.

After a long shower Jason made his way downstairs to where the rest of his family were eating breakfast. “Morning all.” Jason said, greeting the group.

It was unusual for them all to be present at breakfast, they always woke at different times, but the next few days were going to be unusual and they all knew it. It had been half a year since Jason spoke to them about what was to come and in that time they had worked together and bonded as a family. Fractured relationships were restored, and apologies were made.

The entire family had united in helping Jason achieve his destiny, and for that they would never understand how grateful he was to each and every one of them.

“I’ve made your favourite, a full English sir.” Alfred said placing a stacked plate before him.

“Thanks Alfie.” He said picking up his knife and fork and digging into the spread.

A fairly jovial conversation flowed over breakfast, but that was what was needed, they didn’t need to talk about what was happening. At least not until the first warnings came in anyway. Jason placed his cutlery down on his empty plate and rubbed his bloated stomach.

“Seriously Jason, I don’t know how you can eat that much?!” Tim exclaimed.

Jason grinned uncomfortably. “It’s just practice, maybe you should try it, you might grow higher than 5’ one day.”

They all, barring Tim, burst into laughter as he looked outraged. “I am 5”8’ thank you very much!” He protested, but no one listened, too busy still laughing. “Fine I see how it is.” He said, folding his arms in mock annoyance.

Once a silence had settled again, Jason spoke, his tone slightly more serious. “Has anyone been down to the cave yet this morning?”

Bruce shut his news paper and placed it on the table. “Yeah, I slept down there last night. News hit from Tamaran at three this morning. The whole planet is gone. There were a few thousand that managed to escape but all reports suggest that their attacker was headed this way.”

Jason’s head bobbed, he knew it was coming, yet it still hurt to hear all the destruction he couldn’t stop from happening. “What’s the news from the refugee camps?” Jason asked, it had been Bruce’s idea to build state of the art refugee camps for the Tamaranean refugees, the various Flashes helping to construct the sites.

“Barry reports that the last repairs to the environmental emitters were fixed two days ago.” Jason smiled, that was good, he was glad they would be able to provide those dislodged a place to live comfortably.

“That’s excellent. Well, I’m afraid I need to go and meditate. I’ll be back down in an hour or so.” He stood to leave and headed off to his room.

Besides the obvious rewards of ridding Gotham of all its horrors and menaces, there had been another reason Jason wanted to clean Gotham up. What was to come would require him to have access to the additional positive potential power given off by his home city. When imbued with the powers of the All-Caste, having your home city in a state of positive energy gave a tremendous power boost as that energy fed directly into your soul.

It did, however, require a lot of meditation to keep that power in check. Jason had been lucky that the power build up was gradual, otherwise he would’ve been overwhelmed by it.

As Jason began his meditation, he initially found it difficult to focus, all of what was to come playing on his mind. He whispered softly into the air. “Ducra, I need you one last time.” Jason waited before feeling the warmth wrap around his body.

“What do you need Jason?” Ducra had always lacked somewhat in the compassion department, but she more than made up for it in other ways.

“I need help focusing my mind, I cannot clear tomorrow from my thoughts.”

Ducra looked at him like he had six eyes. “And what do you think I can do about that?” Jason was taken aback by her words, surely she couldn’t have gotten any more emotionally closed off. “Your mind is your own Jason, and only you can control it. What you need to realise though is that there is nothing you can do now other than prepare for the trials ahead of you. No one else can do what you are needed to do, no one else has the soul, spirit and love to finish this fight.”

She was right, of course. There was nothing Jason could do to stop the events from happening, so he would not let them overwhelm him and rob his focus of him. “For once Ducra, you might be right.”

She clipped him over the ear. “Child I am always right. Now leave me in peace, the dead need rest too!” With that she disappeared, having said all she needed to.

Jason got back to his meditation and this time found it much easier to slip into zen state.

A calmness spread over his body and he began to focus all the cosmic, positive and soul energy contained within him into his centre. To bring his physical body into alignment with it all and make himself one entity that could achieve anything he set his mind to. A cool sensation trickled down his spine and he began to feel every cell in his body vibrate with the potential energy coursing through it.

He was as ready as he was ever going to be.

Jason however, still felt guilty, as he hadn’t been truthful with anyone. The attack wasn’t tomorrow, it was today. The celestial entity known to previous generations as the Unmaker was a force almost unrivalled in strength. It sucked the life energy out of entire worlds, causing them to crumble into dust, a mere memory of what they used to be.

Those existing on a higher plane of existence had seen many universes fall. Entire cycles of life ended before it moved onto the next universe. It was seen as a necessity, the universe that was devoured eventually starting it’s life cycle again.

Some in the planes above, however, had decided that all this death and suffering was pointless, that there was no need for it to continue. So they hatched a plan to stop the Unmaker. Jason was that plan. A mortal with enough potential energy to counteract the Unmaker and cancel it out of existence.

Today was the day the Unmaker attacked Earth.

Today was the day the cycle ended.

The first sirens were heard ringing through the city at noon. The Unmaker drawn to the vibrancy of Gotham’s newfound energy. Jason would soon call upon that energy, but first he needed to speak to his family.

When he made it down to the cave they were beginning to suit up, and Jason couldn’t help but admire their spirt. Even when faced with unwinnable odds, they still fought.

“Jason, it arrived earlier than you thought!” Barbara called out as she and Bruce tapped and clicked wildly at their computers.

Jason walked over to Dick, Tim and Kate and stopped them all from getting dressed. “Jay what are you doing, we can help?”

He shook his head, smiling oh so gently at them all. “This is how it was always going to be. I lied, but trust that I did it for the right reasons.” He walked over to Bruce and knelt next to him, the man’s eyes filled with confusion. “I’m sorry for all this old man, but you can have your city back once this is all done.”

Jason pulled the blade he had cut Bruce’s spinal cord with and held it between their hands. The blade was of All-Caste design and its effects were only permanent until the blade was united by the hands of the wielder and victim. The blade disintegrated into a small puff of smoke and Bruce’s eyes lit up, his legs suddenly fully under his own control again. He didn’t stand as they had lost most of their muscle mass, but instead wrapped his arms around Jason.

“I love you son.” He whispered as the two embraced more fiercely than they ever had.

“I love you too dad. Just promise me you wont make another god-awful glass case.” Bruce couldn’t hold back the laughter and wiped the tears from his face, a smile returning to it for the first time in weeks.

“I didn’t tell you because I need your love. If I’d told you, you would only hold fear in your hearts. I need you all to love. Love me, love today, and love the future our universe will now have.”

They all came together, surrounding Jason. Placing their hands on his shoulders and arms, Barbara latched onto his hand with a vice-like grip. “With your love, I will have the power to pull through and do what needs to be done.”

He looked at them all, trying to hold back their tears and failing miserably. “Today is a day to rejoice, don’t cry because of what I have to do. Celebrate that we loved and saved the universe as one.” He looked across to Dick, who at this point was a mess, and winked. “Your Little Wing’s all grown up ‘ey.” Jason broke the circle and walked over to his gear, pulling it on quickly then he looked back at the group as Alfred pulled the lever to open the doors.

“Go Jason, you have our love, always.” Kate said through shaky words, and with that Jason rose off the ground and rode out of the cave on a wave of his own smoke.

The Unmaker somewhat resembled a wolf. It stalked the the cosmos with it’s two rear-facing horns, prominent upper canines and pure yellow eyes. As Jason rose steadily above Gotham, he could feel the Unmaker’s presence but revelled in how Gotham’s energy stayed the same. Gotham was not easily shaken and even though the Unmaker was clearly visible, Jason felt Gotham’s unwavering determination to survive surge through him, accompanied by the biggest wave of love he had ever experienced before.

Jason stopped just shy of the limits of the troposphere and looked down on Gotham, now just a grey blob on the surface of the planet. “Gotham, All-Caste, and those I hold dear, be with me now.”

A rush of energy burst into him and he slowly allowed it to fill every fibre of his being. “I am the ending of a cycle, the heat that burns away the clouds. I am the spark that lights the fire.” Jason chuckled as he felt energy surging through him and the jaws of the Unmaker closing distance on him. “Another death sentence, another sold soul.”

Jason turned to meet his enemy and saw the planet sized mouth open wide. Jason felt the energy being pulled from him but he knew what he had to do. Turning fully to smoke, he swirled around the Unmaker, blanketing the beast in his cloud. The Unmaker panicked and started pulling in Jason’s power quicker, but it was too late. Jason had already tuned himself to the Unmaker’s own power

He allowed himself one last look down at Earth. He could see Slade, Tim, Dick, Kate, Babs, Alfred and Bruce all looking up at him and never had he felt more at peace. His job was done, they were saved, and he could now rest. Worry no more for the safety of those he cared for, as he had ensured their lives would go on.

With that, Jason concentrated one last time and pushed himself past what was safe, merging his power with the Unmaker’s and then, nothing.

Both Jason and the Unmaker disappeared, the threat to existence gone forever.


	6. No sacrifice without reward.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nights are long, and no where near as busy as they used to be. Bruce struggles once more to deal with the loss of his son and finality of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, the final chapter on our journey. I hope you’ve enjoyed the work!!

Bruce pulled the soft bedsheet off of himself and slowly slid out of bed, being careful not to wake Selina. She stirred slightly but resettled again, allowing Bruce to back carefully out of the bedroom and shut the large door behind him. He let out a long, gentle breath then turned and headed for the stairs.

He glanced at his watch and saw that it was just coming up to three in the morning. He rubbed at his temples in exasperation, this was the third night in a row that he’d been unable to sleep. Unfortunately though, this had been the trend for the last year.

While the city and the rest of the world celebrated on this day, remembering the sacrifice made by Red Hood, by his son, Bruce still couldn’t help but miss him.

Jason’s arrival back into their lives and then departure once more had all felt so sudden and dramatic. Yes they had all radiated their love for Jason when he needed it most, but after he was gone Bruce found himself feeling empty and devoid of all hope.

Nothing had managed to fill that hole in his chest since then, not even when he finally got together with Selina seven months ago. He loved her dearly and she had made his life so much better since they accepted their feelings for one another, but the loss of his son for the second time was just too much for his soul to bear.

He arrived in the kitchen, not stopping to turn on the lights, and opened up the fridge. A beacon of light spilled out through the spacious room as Bruce perused its contents.

Bruce pulled out a carton fruit juice and poured himself a glass. The refreshing zing of the citrus flavours roused him. He had given up on sleep now and thought it best to make himself useful. He replaced the carton in the fridge and started off towards the cave.

He was down there much less these days, with Jason’s extreme measures, they had really cleaned Gotham.

At most, Bruce patrolled twice a week and attended once weekly League meetings at the Watchtower. As a result he was spending more time as support due to his sleep patterns, than he was in the cowl. The lift reached the bottom of the shaft and Bruce stepped out onto the cold, hard, stone floor of the cave, walking towards the nearest platform and the gangway that lead to the main computer bank.

Sat behind the keyboard in her custom wheelchair was Babs, running support for Dick as she was the one on duty tonight. “Morning Bruce.” She said without looking back to see who had joined her.

“Morning Barbara, how’s patrol going tonight?” He asked, placing his glass down on the counter.

“Fairly slow tonight, I think it’s a bit too cold for them at the moment.” Barbara chuckled and Bruce joined in softly then took a seat next to her and started tapping slowly on the secondary keypad. “How many night’s is this then?” She asked, still not pulling her eyes away from the camera feeds that showed Dick swinging from rooftop to rooftop.

“This is the third now.” Bruce said, collapsing his head into his hands. “God I wanna sleep, but I can’t close my eyelids.” He groaned, the desperation in his voice clear.

“You still seeing Jason?” She asked and he nodded his head in his hands, giving no audible reply. “Have you tried taking that medication your doctor prescribed?”

Bruce leant back up again and took another swig of his drink. “Yeah, still no joy. I think sometimes the image of him just…just…disappearing is too vivid even now, my head just can’t shake it.”

Barbara leant a hand over and squeezed his knee. “I wish there were some magic words I could tell you Bruce, that would make this all go away, but there isn’t. These things take time, a lot of time, but they will get better, I promise.”

Bruce gave a pained smile to Barbara. He knew she was right, and he appreciated her not sugar-coating it.

“Why don’t you go get some fresh air? Clear your mind a bit?” She suggested.

Bruce considered it and realised it was probably the best idea anyone had had in the last couple of hours.

The early morning frost still coated the ground and as Bruce walked over the slivered blades of grass, they crunched under his slippers. His years of fighting ice-themed villains meant he had a much higher tolerance for the cold now and as such he had only ventured out in a dressing gown over his pyjamas. When he reached the ornate stonewall section of the main promenade, he took a moment for pause and sat down on the small stone bench there.

He sat motionless, watching his breath form into clouds of water vapour.

Then he noticed it, the figure sat opposite him. He instinctively reacted by taking up a fighting stance, the person had not been there a few moments ago and he hadn’t drifted off so he knew they hadn’t approached as he dozed.

“Who the hell are you and what do you want?” He demanded, trying his hardest not to use his ‘Batman’ voice.

The figure held up a placating hand in a universal sign of peace. “Be calm, Bruce Wayne. I come not with intentions of evil or to sew destruction, rather to reward the glorious and honour the brave.”

Bruce could not have looked more surprise if he tried. The figure was not speaking with normal cadence or in a way other than someone putting on a mask. “I…I errr, I don’t understand.” He replied, trying to keep up his Brucie-boy demeanour a while longer.

The being was standing now, there was no motion between the two positions, they just went from being sat on the wall to now standing in front of it.

“Who are you?” He asked again, softer this time though.

“You have no word for us, just as we have very few for you. We have been here for ages spanning longer than mortal minds can calculate. Seen the coming and going of universes and celestial cycles. In all our ages we have never seen a celestial cycle as violent and damning as this one, with this multiverse. In our opinion, this needed to be rectified. A solution was imagined, and then we put it into action. We put all our hopes in the choices and actions of a mortal, such as you are. Jason Peter Todd was our solution, but the nature of mortal’s creation gives free will, we could not force our plan onto him. We had to be patient and give him the choice when he reached your age of maturity.”

Bruce listened intently and realised where they were going with this. “You never got the chance to fill him in on what you had planned for him, did you.”

The figure switched back to sitting, happy that Bruce now seemed to be assured that they posed no threat. “Indeed. Our calculations could not factor in those you call, or called, The Joker and Harley Quinn. Their movements through your time-space were too erratic. When Jason Todd was ended, so too was our plan.”

Bruce shook his head. “But you couldn’t let that happen, could you.” He said, carrying on the conversation’s direction.

“No, and soon his soul passed onto our plane of existence. We held him, told him of our plans to save all life in his universe, and all life in others too. Still yet, he could’ve denied our plan. Still he could’ve chosen to pass on into the next realm. Jason Todd never faltered. He accepted our plan and allowed us to restore him to his physical body.”

“When he returned, we imbued him with such celestial potential that he could grow to become all he needed to be to end the countless celestial cycles ravaged by the rogue entity mortals named the Unmaker. Upon his return he set out on our mission, even at great personal loss. On our plane, he had at first wanted nothing more than to return to you.” Bruce hadn’t felt it, but tears were starting to fall down his cheeks. Jason’s first thoughts post death had been of him, but then when he was given the suicidal mission of saving the multiverse, he had never once thought about putting his own needs first. “When the time came, my kind descended to your plane and watched as Jason Todd executed the plan perfectly, bringing about a new celestial age for this realm.”

Again, Bruce found himself beaming with pride and tears cascading down his cold face. “What happened next was beyond our ability to calculate. Our own minds and souls were affected by the actions of a mortal. Such was our admiration, thanks, wonder, and love for Jason Todd, that we came to a realisation. No being, be they mortal or otherwise, should be sent from those loved by them when they have been so noble in their function and putting the many ahead of the few. We could not allow for Jason Todd to be treated this way. Our tear-songs resulted in many celestial phenomena, including your ‘meteor shower’ four mortal months ago. Our end thought was that Jason Todd deserved to live again, but a life in a universe he died to create. A life in a universe he never thought he’d see.”

At Bruce’s feet appeared a small bundle of soft fabric, only the bundle wriggled and squirmed. Bruce leant down and picked up the bundle.

Sure enough, inside was a small baby with instantly recognisable features. Bruce tried to hold back the tide but was unable. His Jason was back in his arms.

The boy he’d lost twice was returned to him.

He lived again because those who presided over all time knew how brilliant his boy was, and that he always deserved better than his lot in life. “Thank you.” Bruce choked out as he wiped tears from the child’s face.

“His soul is reborn, he will grow with imprints of the life he had before. He will know those he loved, but not that he loved them before.”

Bruce was almost not listening now, so focused on having Jason back, but then he realised something in what they were saying. “Will he have imprints for _everyone_ he loved?” Bruce could tell they would know where he was going with this question and their answer confirmed his suspicions.

“Everyone Jason Todd held in his heart will continue to warm his soul, even those who do not reside in his Gotham.”

Bruce nodded, acknowledging their answer and looking down at Jason again. “Don’t worry Jaylad, I’ll call Slade as soon as I can find him.”

The figure seemed to emit a pleasant tone around them. “This action pleases us, Bruce Wayne. You are all that Jason Todd has described you to be, we are happy to restore him to yourself. We will go now, there is only so long our energy can exist on your plane. Give Jason Todd the glory he deserves, and show him the love he gave to the multi-universes.”

Bruce squeezed the baby tighter. “That is something you never need to worry about. I won’t let him go again, he will know the life he’s always deserved.” Bruce looked back up but the figure was gone and now it was just him and baby Jason.

He hadn’t realised but the figure had been emitting a kind of warmth that filled then entire stoned area. Now that they were gone the temperature was dropping rapidly. He pulled off his dressing gown and wrapped it around Jason, then rushed back to the manor.

He didn’t know how he was going to explain all this to the others, but he was sure they would believe it when they saw Jason.

_Shit_ , he thought to himself. _I’ve got to call Slade now._


End file.
